Geomembranes Containing Powdered Activated Carbon Have the Potential to Improve Containment of Chlorinated Aromatic Contaminants

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• 作者：Erin M. Surdo ; Edward L. Cussler ; Paige J. Novak ; William A. Arnold
• 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology
• 出版年：2009
• 出版时间：December 1, 2009
• 年：2009
• 卷：43
• 期：23
• 页码：8916-8922
• 全文大小：189K
• 年卷期：v.43,no.23(December 1, 2009)
• ISSN：1520-5851

文摘

Breakthrough across high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was measured for 2,3′,4′,5-tetrachlorobiphenyl and a higher-solubility surrogate, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene. Addition of powdered activated carbon (0.14 g carbon/cm³ membrane) reduced pseudo-steady-state flux through thin HDPE membranes by approximately 60%. Breakthrough curves for activated carbon-containing membranes were best described by a model in which sorption to the carbon was limited by the rate of diffusion from the bulk membrane to the carbon particle surfaces. Field-scale estimates based on this model show a substantial (over 10 orders of magnitude) reduction in flux for the activated carbon-containing HDPE compared with pure HDPE. The flux of 2,3′,4′,5-tetrachlorobiphenyl through a composite membrane with thin layers of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with 0.05 g carbon/cm³ and pure HDPE was 69% lower than expected for a similar layered membrane without the sorptive scavenger. This flux reduction was achieved with less than a third of the carbon used in the HDPE case, an improvement that is likely the result of better solute uptake in the hydrophilic PVA layer.